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The Last of the Dashkin
''The Last of the Dashkin ''is the seventh installment in the Brackenwood series. It was animated by, written and created by Adam Phillips, the creator of the Brackenwood series. The episode broke the all-time record for highest scoring flash on Newgrounds, and is the first flash of the series to include the narrated voice of the flying girl telling the story as the animation progresses in contrast to the usual silent narrative. Phillips said he wanted to create the episode as a break from the traditional sequence of Bitey pranks and karma-like consequences as he was growing a little tired of it: "While there are reasons to detest Bitey, everyone was cheering for him in The Yuyu. Sure he's a spiteful little turd, but he's not evil to the core. I now want the world to know who he really is and why.. to prove that there's more to the character and his world than anyone imagined. For that purpose, I believed narration to be a suitable expository technique, despite how unfashionable it may be in the eyes of today's screenwriters and snobbish film students. I know (just as some others wish) I could have made this movie entirely without narration, but I've said a number of times since LotD's release that I have a soft spot for the spoken storytelling tradition which is something that I grew up with. Using it cleverly is a challenge, but I've always wanted to use it and I think I did OK, even if it is a little heavy in parts." - ''Phillips on Biteycastle.com The narration and the script, both the cut and uncut versions, for the episode was written by Phillips and read by Emma Reynolds in the character of the viccan, the flying girl. Plot The Last of the Dashkin begins with Bitey, the last of the Dashkin, speeding through the forest and slamming a gnat nest, similar to the one in waterlollies, on a Bigfoot's head before running away again. Bitey is later seen falling asleep and we are given glimpses of a very unusual dream. Figures looking similar to himself as well as the flying girl fly and surround a large creature at night-time as if in some sort of battle before suddenly being consumed in a dark cloud. Bitey's next memory is that of his infancy. We see how he awoke inside the Globe Tree and was briefly adopted into the care of 2 Bigfeet before being abandoned after they produced a child of their own. Bitey then learns his skill for moving swift and quickly across the landscape and grows up honing it to his advantage. The narration explains that the loneliness of being the last of his race has made Bitey the cruel oppurtunist he has now become. It's suggested that maybe he will be able to learn the good values of pity and friendship after he witnesses a creture fall into a river trying to get some food. The fruit he is eating drops onto the ground as if he is getting up to help. The final scene shows Bitey running across the Brackenwood landscape when a dark cloak-like object suddenly comes up alongside him and then blocks his path. The figure is the flying girl. She lifts her hand and conjures flickering magical water around them as Bitey looks at the female in puzzlement and the episode ends, on a cliffhanger. Uncut Narration ''On the small forest planet of Brackenwood lives a wild thing with wicked horns and glowing eyes.The people are all gone, and in a world of innocent animals he is a cruel opportunist, whose godlike speed over land grants him the ability to avoid danger, create mischief and evade consequences for his actions. But where did he come from, this fleck of spite in an abandoned paradise? Who is this peace-shattering scourge of the forest? He is the last of the Dashkin, but in the rough language of wild creatures, he is known only as Bitey. His earliest memories are little more than brief, flickering images of calamity. Horned people. Flying people. Giant people and darkness. In a more vivid memory he wakes in a quiet, softly glowing chamber'. 'Little creatures with wide, curious eyes regard him and he, them. His dreams are filled with recollections of lonely wanderings under sweeping skies, nights bright and deep. Musical breezes and whispering woods. For a brief time in his infancy he was adopted and cared for by a pair of morrugs. Cruelly, but naturally they abandoned him after producing offspring of their own. Confused, vulnerable and utterly alone, he discovered quite by accident his inherent gift for swiftness. As time passed, his talent for escaping trouble became a favourite means of causing it. An intelligent and emotional being in a world of animals, the solitude, the sadness and bitterness have corrupted his view of life. Without any true parental figure to teach him the meaning of kindness and mercy, Bitey is full of contempt and because of his speed, considers himself superior to all who cross his path. Despite his loathing for others, Bitey's cruelty masks an intense loneliness. All around him he sees animals in the comfort of their kin and deep down inside, he yearns for the same. But he is the last of his kind. And what does the future hold for such a tragic creature? 'Will he wander the planet forever alone until his death? Or will he learn of his people and discover his identity? Is there a chance that he could discover the meaning of pity and friendship? Or will he always be the Wild King of Brackenwood? We are about to find out! Sequel In 2016 a sequel to The Last of the Dashkin was announced by Adam Phillips and went into production, however the project was put on indefinite hold hold due to an initial dropout of people on his Patreon. Shortly afterwards Phillips announced a game called Dashkin that he and a former colleague at Electronics Arts, Kirk Sexton, had begun developing and which would act as a continuation of The Last of the Dashkin. It is unclear whether the game has replaced the episode. References * The girl at the end the episode is in fact a re-designed flying girl, at that time called Lemonee Wee, hinting that she will play a part in Bitey's future. The story will be continued in the Dashkin video game. Category:Episodes Category:Narrated episodes Category:Narrated movies Category:Movies Category:Stories Category:The Last of the Dashkin Category:Brackenwood